Sonnet 75 PDF by Edmund Spenser

One day I wrote her name upon the strand (Sonnet 75) Introduction Edmund Spenser (c.1554-1599): British poet extraordinaire. *- This man had a lot of interests. He loved writing poems, he loved his Queen Elizabeth , he loved the idea of love itself, and he loved his great nation of England. *- Spens...

One day I wrote her name upon the strand (Sonnet 75) Introduction Edmund Spenser (c.1554-1599): British poet extraordinaire. *- This man had a lot of interests. He loved writing poems, he loved his Queen Elizabeth , he loved the idea of love itself, and he loved his great nation of England. *- Spenser was a learned man who knew a whole lot about his country's literature and culture, and whole lot about classical Greek and Roman literature and culture, too. *- He wrote the epic poem The Faerie Queen, which is one of the most important poems of the Renaissance. Spenser presented parts of The Faerie Queen to Queen Elizabeth herself. *- Spenser didn't just write epics. In addition to writing The Faerie Queen, he wrote a whole sequence of sonnets called Amoretti (of which "Sonnet 75" is a part, obviously). *- Spenser did two pretty sweet and inventive things with his sonnet sequence. First, he created a variation on the sonnet form that we now refer to as "the Spenserian sonnet". He also turned the traditional sonnet themes totally upside down. Before Spenser, almost all sonnet sequences were about one-sided love. But Spenser decided to lighten things up a bit, and his Amoretti tell the story of his successful courtship of and marriage to his wife, Elizabeth Boyle. Spenser paved the way for hundreds of years of happy sonnets. "Sonnet 75" is one of Spenser's most famous sonnets. It's about the ocean, love, and immortality, It's also about the great power of poetry. He understood that we humans have a deep desire for immortality, and he had a simple recipe to make it happen: 1. become an awesome poet, 2. write a poem about your beloved, 3. instant immortality for you and your lady-friend as millions of people read your poems even after you're dead. The Sonnet One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washéd it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise." "Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew." Summary The speaker and his lady-friend are at the strand (i.e., the beach). He writes her name in the sand, but a wave comes and washes it away. He writes it again, but alas, a wave washes it away again (no big surprise there, really). The woman says that it's silly for the speaker to be writing her name in the sand to begin with; she's going to die one day and disappear from the earth, just as her name has disappeared. Then the speaker works his magic. He tells his sweetie that he'll immortalize her by writing about her in his poems. Their names will live forever in his poetry, and their love will live on forever and ever. Lines 1-8 Summary Lines 1-2 One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washéd it away:  The poem begins by setting the scene: the speaker (the "I") of the poem is at the strand with his woman. The strand is another name for the shore -the sandy part of the beach. So the speaker and his beloved are chilling at the beach, and he decides to get all romantic and write her name in the sand. But then the waves wash away her name—sadness. Lines 3-4 Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. He writes his girlfriend's name in the sand again—in the words of the poem, "with a second hand." But the tide comes in and washes her name away again. The beach is just completely cruel. He refers to his writing as "his pains," the writing of his beloved's name in the sand—is hard work. The speaker also makes a metaphor; he refers to his writing as the "prey" of the waves. He basically imagines that the waves are like a predator, just waiting to pounce on his poor defenseless writing. Lines 5-6 "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize; it's dialogue. It's not too often that dialogue shows up in a sonnet, as sonnets are pretty short poems. But we find it snazzy that Spenser included some speech in "Sonnet 75." She basically says, "Hey speaker: you're vain (full of yourself) and your assay (or attempt) to preserve (immortalize) my name (a mortal thing) in the sand is silly (in vain). She's telling him that his gesture will never work, that he's being proud in thinking that his writing is more powerful than the forces of nature. He's trying in vain—or uselessly—to make her name immortal, when in fact it's mortal (it will die). Note that the speaker's lady-friend is using the word "vain" twice in one line; she knows this word has multiple meanings, and she's drawing on both of them. Lines 7-8 For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise." These lines are the continuation of the beloved's speech. She says that she, too, will decay and disappear, just as her name has disappeared from the beach. She, too, will be "wiped out." the word "eke" meant "also." It's one of those words that has been wiped out by the waves of time. So to summarize, the beloved thinks that the speaker is being  a little silly by continually writing her name in the sand, and she recognizes that, like her name, she won't live forever. Lines 9-10 "Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: At this point in the sonnet, we get a classic volta (or turn), in which the poem changes its tune. So far, the poem has been all about mortality—how nothing and no one can live forever. But now, the poem begins to say that actually, yes, some things do live forever. The dialogue shifts from the beloved to the speaker himself. He tells his girlfriend that " things that are "baser" (or lower, less important than you) will die and become dust, but that "you shall live by fame." And note all that alliteration of D words—"devise," "die," "dust." Lines 11-12 My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name: So how will the speaker's beloved live forever? Through his poetry, of course. (In this line, "verse" = "poetry"). The speaker says that his verse will "eternize" all of his girl's virtues, and that it will write her name in the heavens, not in the sand. His poetry will be so awesome that it will make her immortal. alliterative V's in "verse" and "vertues. Lines 13-14 Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew." the speaker either reveals himself to be the most loving man ever. He says that "death shall all the world subdue"—in other words, that death will kill everyone in the whole wide world—but that their "love shall live, and later life renew." He means everyone will die but their love will go on forever because of his poetry. In these final two lines, we have alliteration of W words in "where," "whenas," and "world," and alliteration of L words with "love," "live," "later," and "life." when we notice that the last two lines of the poem form a rhyming couplet. So much rhyming, so much alliteration. This final couplet is the other hallmark of the Spenserian sonnet; it provides a sense of closure and finality to the poem.  We may not actually know his beloved's name, but we're all thinking about the speaker and his woman now. Edmund Spenser and the immortal power of his awesome verse. 1.1 Background of Edmund Spencer *- It is believed that Edmund Spencer was born in London. *- He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1573 and took an M.A. in 1576. *- In 1576 he published The Shepheardes Calender, containing twelve eclogues proportioned to the twelve months. *- This is not only his first major work but also the key to his entire poetic career. *- The book was widely praised and gave Spencer a certain reputation. 2. Themes in "Sonnet 75" *- The first theme in "Sonnet 75" is love and immortality. *- His poem is an attempt to immortalize his love with his beloved. *- In the sonnet, "Sonnet 75" by Edmund Spenser, love is unending and is not bound by time. The Theme The speaker of the poem suggests that he can immortalize his love through his verse.. "One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey." (lines 1-5) The speaker attempts to engrave his lover's name in the sand, but the sea continually threatens to wash it away. This serves as a metaphor for human mortality, and the fleeting nature of life which can be wiped out at any time. 3. Structure and Literary Devices *- Throughout "Sonnet 75," Spencer uses rhyme scheme, sonnet form, alliteration, assonance, metaphors, symbolism, personification, and various imagery to further develop his message. *- In terms of sonnet form, "Sonnet 75" follows the conventional method using three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet. *- The poem concludes with a statement of arrogance claiming that his own poetry has the strength to withstand time. 3.1 Sonnet Form and Rhyme Scheme *- The poem is an English sonnet consisting of three quatrains and a rhymed couplet. *- It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form abab, cdcd, ee, and each quatrain exemplifies a different phase in the poet's admiration for his lover. *- In the first stanza, he writes his lover's name in the sand, and the gentle rising tide wipes it away. *- In the second quatrain, he explains how no glory or monuments that exist on earth are eternal but instead pass with time, and he will immortalize her through his verse. *- The third quatrain exemplifies the poet's belief in the power of his verse to defy time, and in the final rhymed couplet, he is resolved that through his verse their love will survive. *- The sonnet is written in iambic pentameter. 3.2 Alliteration and AssonanceThe heavy use of alliteration and assonance in Sonnet 75 serves to reinforce its musical qualities. The Sonnet One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washéd it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise." "Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew." 1-what kind of stanza? The poem is written in three quatrain and caplets 2-What is the rhyme scheme? The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG 3-What is the kind of this poem? This is a Shakespearian sonnet 4-Which collocation is it published in? In 1576 he published The Shepheard’s Calendar, containing twelve eclogues proportioned to the twelve months. 5-Which structure is this poem followed? Shakespearian sonnet 6-Who is the speaker in these lines? 7-Extract the following: Paradox -apostrophe- metaphor-hyperbaton-personification - epithet- alliteration Paradox: amortal thing so to immortalize (the attempt to immortalize something mortal is a paradox) the poem is an apostrophe to the beloved. The speaker directly addresses the women throughout the poem Metaphor: “came the tide, and made my pains his prey “ Tide is the metaphor for the forces that erase the speakers’ efforts Hyperbaton: “vain man said she “the inversion the natural word order for emphasis Personification: “came the waves and washed it away” The waves are personified as having agency Epithet: “Vertues rare “an adj. describing a quality of beloved Alliteration: vain man / my verse your virtues 8-What kind of rhyme in the stanza? The rhyme is combination of stressed and un stressed syllables 9-What is the meaning of the underline words?